Oscar-winning actor Whoopi Goldberg has reportedly insisted she wasn't doubling down on earlier comments in which she said the Holocaust was not about race, but rather about man's inhumanity to others.
In a statement to US media outlets, Goldberg again apologised after stating in February that the Holocaust involved "two white groups of people", sparking condemnation from anti-hate groups such as the Anti-Defamation League and its chief executive Jonathan Greenblatt.
The actor has issued a statement explaining she wasn't "doubling down" on her earlier comments, but rather providing context when asked about those remarks.
Recently while doing press in London, I was asked about my comments from earlier this year. I tried to convey to the reporter what I had said and why, and attempted to recount that time. It was never my intention to appear as if I was doubling down on hurtful comments, especially after talking with and hearing people like rabbis and old and new friends weighing in. I'm still learning a lot and believe me, I heard everything everyone said to me.
I believe that the Holocaust was about race, and I am still as sorry now as I was then that I upset, hurt and angered people. My sincere apologies again, especially to everyone who thought this was a fresh rehash of the subject. I promise it was not. In this time of rising anti-Semitism, I want to be very clear when I say that I always stood with the Jewish people and always will. My support for them has not wavered and never will.
Jewish leaders had criticised Goldberg, noting that Nazi leader Adolf Hitler referred to Jewish people as an inferior race.
Germany's Nazi regime was responsible for murdering millions of Jewish people during the Holocaust.
Goldberg was suspended from ABC America daytime talk show The View for two weeks as a result of her initial remarks, which she apologised for at the time.
The co-host of the program posted her initial apology to Facebook.
Goldberg, born Caryn Johnson, is currently promoting the film Till on which she's a producer and cast member. The movie is about Emmett Till, who was brutally lynched as a 14-year-old in 1955.
